Friend,

I want to provide an update to you on items I have been working on throughout September.

The month's highlights included: speaking to Northern Kentucky Right to Life, announcing that the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport (CVG) will receive millions of dollars in Airport Improvement Program grant funding, accepting an invitation from One America News Network to discuss House Democrats' rejection of my ballot security amendments in Oversight & Reform Committee, and welcoming the news that President Trump is reducing troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan. For more details, please read below. 

You can also keep track of my Congressional work on my regularly updated official Facebook and Twitter accounts. If you aren't following me on those sites already, I invite you to do so. 

Massie Speaks to Northern Kentucky Right to Life

It was an honor to speak at Northern Kentucky Right to Life's "47th Annual Celebration for Life" in Hebron. It was encouraging to be among so many Kentuckians working together to protect the Right to Life.

When I entered Congress in 2012, I wasn't sure how long it would be until I had to vote on a bill that challenged the unborn's Right to Life. I didn't expect that it would be just a few weeks, let alone in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a bill supposedly intended to provide funding for the military and defense. At that time, the legislative language placed in the NDAA attempted to expand abortion coverage for military members. Therefore, I had to vote no. Since then, I've cosponsored many pro-life bills. These include Rep. Steve King's "Heartbeat Protection Act" (which stands for the proposition that "If a heartbeat is detected, the baby is protected"), Rep. Chris Smith's "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act," and Rep. Mooney's "Life at Conception Act."

Regarding the Supreme Court, President Trump often claims to be "the most pro-life president ever," and he's got a legitimate claim to that. He has made his third Supreme Court nomination, and the Senate will confirm her. When Amy Barrett is confirmed, President Trump will have placed three pro-life Justices on the Supreme Court.

I don't want the Supreme Court writing laws. The most exciting thing to me about having a pro-life Supreme Court is that we have made a lot of progress in getting pro-life legislation passed at the state level. As those state laws are challenged, having a pro-life Supreme Court will be very important if those laws are to survive judicial scrutiny.

Just societies and cultures protect the most innocent and vulnerable among us. Thank you to Art Kunath, Fred Summe, and Northern Kentucky Right to Life for inviting me to today's celebration. I also want to thank the guest speaker, Steventhen Holland, for sharing his powerful personal story with us.

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport Receives $51 million

As a four-term member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I'm pleased that Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) has been awarded over $51 million in funding for improvement projects. In early September, CVG received $45 million ($36.9 million of this award coming from the Airport Improvement Program.) At the end of the month, an additional $6.7 million in Airport Improvement Project grants were awarded to CVG, bringing the total announced funding in September to over $51 million.

Airport Improvement Project (AIP) grants support airport infrastructure projects such as runways, taxiways, airport signage, airport lighting, and airport markings. The funds obligated for AIP grants originate from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, which derives its revenue from user fees on plane tickets, jet fuel taxes, and other aviation-related sources.

You can read more about the CVG grant here.

Massie Offers Ballot Security Amendments

In the Oversight and Reform Committee, I offered two important amendments to strengthen ballot security. House Democrats defeated both of them. 

I characterized my first amendment as "what's good for the goose is good for the gander.” It would make Hatch Act prohibitions on political activities apply to local postmasters in the same way the House Democrats want to apply the Hatch Act to Postmaster General DeJoy.

My other amendment sought to ensure serious criminal penalties for anyone who would affix a fraudulent postmark on a ballot envelope. What does it mean if you argue that somebody should be able to manipulate postal equipment so they can submit ballots that were cast after election day in an election that hasn't yet been decided?

Democrats voted unanimously to kill both amendments, proving that the bill they offered was not a serious effort to guarantee election security and political indifference at the post office. Their underlying bill was simply a political witch hunt.

Click on the image above to watch me call out the hypocrisy.

Massie Appears on One America News Network

My ballot security amendments were also discussed during my recent appearance on One America News Network's "In Focus" program.  I invite you to watch the video, in which I also talk about recent violence in Louisville and the media's complicity in it. 

President Trump's Bringing Troops Home from Afghanistan

As detailed in this article, troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan are coming down this fall. 

The chart linked here provides a somber reminder of U.S. military casualties in the war in Afghanistan. According to icasualties.org, there have been 2,451 U.S. fatalities in Afghanistan since 2001. With regards to Presidential administrations, American casualties in Afghanistan breakdown as follows:

Bush: 630
Obama: 1758
Trump: 63

One more U.S. casualty in this war is one too many. Thank you, President Trump, for winding this war down. Let’s end it.

Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter.

In Liberty,